If it ain’t broke, why should I fix (or upgrade) it?
In almost every aspect of our lives, we are faced with unceasing changes and advancements that are nearly impossible to ignore. The most modern flip-phone of ten years ago is simply an artifact today, and of such limited functionality that it is practically useless. Our tools, toys and gadgets are becoming increasingly dependent on the infrastructure of our society that supports them and which also leads us to demand more from both the developers and manufacturers of those products. And so the velocity of change continues to accelerate.
Software is as susceptible to obsolescence as are any of our tangible tools, toys or gadgets. Even more so, in fact, as the costs of revisions and updates are infinitesimal compared to a smart phone or new model of car. Just as car manufacturers cannot continue producing spare parts for models from decades ago, software companies also have to have cut-off points for versions of their products, beyond which they no longer receive patches, bug-fixes and platform updates. An excellent example of this, with potentially wide impact, is trusty old Windows XP, which Microsoft will shortly sunset.
This raises issues for many organizations using XP for legacy applications that cannot run properly in the 32/64 bit operating environments, and their IT “Deciders” are now faced with upgrading both hardware and software before too long.
In our world, Sage Software products are revised and updated regularly to enhance the feature sets that keep them current with needs and changes in a wide variety of business environments. Mobility and cloud features are very much in demand among innovative organizations and are now being integrated into new releases of Sage Software. This means that versions of Sage 100 ERP which don’t even seem all that old, such as v4.30, are now going off the trailing edge of supported configurations. Like the automobile manufacturers, Sage will be leaving product support and maintenance in the hands of their dealers and after-market suppliers. Many users of Sage 100 ERP, with legacy versions, are aware of the fact that their model doesn’t have all the modern features, yet is running fine. Just like a well-maintained classic car, a lot of them may be surprised to learn just how long that list of features has grown over the intervening versions. Included in it are changes which are the building blocks for a dependable and stable platform, capable of adapting to a world in which change is the only constant trait.
In keeping with this concept, here is a Top Ten List of reasons why clients with legacy versions of Sage 100 ERP should consider upgrading to a newer version, including the latest release, Version 2014.
Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade from Sage 100 ERP version 4.3 to Sage 100 ERP 2014
- Find customers, vendors, and items quickly by name or description in customer number, vendor number, and item code entry fields with auto-complete.
- Easily report on multiple custom reports with keep window open after print and keep window open after preview buttons on the custom report windows.
- Make searching easier when using the Search Grid window by having the default value in the column Name field as the first column in the grid.
- Find invoices easier with an invoice list button in Accounts Payable Invoice Data Entry, Repetitive Invoice Entry, and Accounts Receivable Repetitive Invoice Data Entry.
- Connect with your customers through social media integration in Sage CRM.
- Stock items customers buy and reduce capital tied up in stock with Sage Inventory Advisor.
- Increase revenue through cross-selling and up-selling with visual catalogs in Sage Mobile Sales.
- Empower customers to access, pay, and view invoices online through Sage Billing and Payment.
- Visually see the profitability of customers, products, and sales people using the profitability dashboard for Sage ERP Intelligence Reporting.
- Connect your business through the Sage Data Cloud, enabling you to easily connect and expand your business with mobile and cloud solutions, with free connectors and unlimited storage.
Written by Ian McIntyre, Product Support Specialist at DSD Business Systems.
